Importance of Beds

Beds represent security and safety. Dillon’s novel opens with Lucia, a woman in crisis, looking for a bed for the night. The most positive intimate moment Evelyn has in the text is a memory of herself and Eloise, lying in a bed together, holding hands (341). When Evelyn and Maureen finally reconnect, they do so while cuddled together in bed, where they let their emotions show unimpeded. For the most part, sex does not happen in beds. This is because most of the sex described in Mercy House is devoid of intimacy. Beds are also a space for rest, which can only really happen when a person feels safe. The Mercy House residents, when they first arrive, often have issues with sleep, and it takes them time to adjust to having a bed that is theirs in which to feel safe.